• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.200-211
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• 2009

A mathematical modeling program called Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) developed by USDA was applied to Kyongan stream watershed. It was run under BASINS (Better Assessment Science for Integrating point and Non-point Sources) program, and the model was calibrated and validated using KTMDL monitoring data of 2004${\sim}$2008. The model efficiency of flow ranged from very good to fair in comparison between simulated and observed data and it was good in the water quality parameters like flow range. The model reliability and performance were within the expectation considering complexity of the watershed and pollutant sources. The results of pollutant loads estimation as yearly (2004${\sim}$2008), pollutant loadings from 2006 were higher than rest of year caused by high precipitation and flow. Average non-point source (NPS) pollution rates were 30.4%, 45.3%, 28.1% for SS, TN and TP respectably. The NPS pollutant loading for SS, TN and TP during the monsoon rainy season (June to September) was about 61.8${\sim}$88.7% of total NPS pollutant loading, and flow volume was also in a similar range. SS concentration depended on precipitation and pollution loading patterns, but TN and TP concentration was not necessarily high during the rainy season, and showed a decreasing trend with increasing water flow. SWAT based on BASINS was applied to the Kyongan stream watershed successfully without difficulty, and it was found that the model could be used conveniently to assess watershed characteristics and to estimate pollutant loading including point and non-point sources in watershed scale.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.57-65
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• 2016

Maeul-soop(Village forest) is a key element of Korean traditional village landscape historically and culturally. However, a number of Maeul-soops have been lost or declined due to various influences since the modern age. For this Maeul-soop that has a variety of conservation values including historical, cultural and ecological ones, attention and efforts for a systematic conservation and restoration of Maeul-soop are needed. The purpose of the present study is to provide information on ecological restoration and sustainable use and management of Maeul-soops based on component plant species, habitat and location characteristics of 499 Maeul-soops spread throughout Korea. Major six categories of threat factors to Maeul-soop ecosystem were identified and the influence of each factor was evaluated. For the evaluation of weight by threat factors for the influence on the vulnerability of Maeul-soop ecosystem, more three-dimensional analysis was conducted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis method. In the results of evaluation using AHP analysis method, reduction of area, among six categories, was spotted as the biggest threat to existence of Maeul-soops. Next, changes in topography and soil environment were considered as a threat factor of qualitative changes in Maeul-soop ecosystem. Influence of vegetation structure and its qualitative changes on the loss or decline of Masul-soop was evaluated to be lower than that of changes in habitat. Based on weight of each factor, the figures were converted with 100 points being the highest score and the evaluation of vulnerability of Maeul-soop was conducted with the converted figures. In the result of evaluation of vulnerability of Maeul-soops, grade III showed the highest frequency and a normal distribution was formed from low grade to high grade. 38 Maeul-soops were evaluated as grade I which showed high naturality and 10 Maeul-soops were evaluated as grade V as their maintenance was threatened. Also in the results of evaluation of vulnerability of each Maeul-soop, restoration of Maeul-soop's own area was found as top priority to guarantee the sustainability of Maeul-soops. It was confirmed that there was a need to prepare a national level ecological response strategy for each vulnerability factor of Maeul-soop, which was important national ecological resources.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.3
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• pp.322-340
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• 2021

Due to climate change and its consequential spring temperature rise, flowering time of Robinia pseudoacacia has advanced and a simultaneous blooming phenomenon occurred in different regions in South Korea. These changes in flowering time became a major crisis in the domestic beekeeping industry and the demand for accurate prediction of flowering time for R. pseudoacacia is increasing. In this study, we developed and compared performance of four different models predicting flowering time of R. pseudoacacia for the entire country: a Single Model for the country (SM), Modified Single Model (MSM) using correction factors derived from SM, Group Model (GM) estimating parameters for each region, and Local Model (LM) estimating parameters for each site. To achieve this goal, the bloom date data observed at 26 points across the country for the past 12 years (2006-2017) and daily temperature data were used. As a result, bloom dates for the north central region, where spring temperature increase was more than two-fold higher than southern regions, have advanced and the differences compared with the southwest region decreased by 0.7098 days per year (p-value=0.0417). Model comparisons showed MSM and LM performed better than the other models, as shown by 24% and 15% lower RMSE than SM, respectively. Furthermore, validation with 16 additional sites for 4 years revealed co-krigging of LM showed better performance than expansion of MSM for the entire nation (RMSE: p-value=0.0118, Bias: p-value=0.0471). This study improved predictions of bloom dates for R. pseudoacacia and proposed methods for reliable expansion to the entire nation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2021

We examined the flow characteristics by direct runoff and base flow in a headwater stream during observed 59 rainfall events of flood season (June~September) from 2017 to 2020 yrs. Total precipitation ranged from 5.0 to 400.8 mm, total runoff ranged from 0.1 to 176.5 mm, and runoff ratio ranged from 0.1 to 242.9% during the rainfall events. From hydrograph separation, flow duration in base flow (139.3 days) was tended to be longer than direct runoff (78.3 days), while the contribution of direct runoff in total runoff (54.2%) was greater than base flow (45.8%). The total amount and peak flow of direct runoff and base flow had the highest correlation (p<0.05) with total precipitation and duration of rain among rainfall and soil moisture conditions. Dominant rainfall events for the total amount and peak flow of base flow were generated under 5.0~200.4 and 10.5~110.5 mm in total precipitation. However, when direct runoff occurred as dominant rainfall events, total amount and peak flow were increased by 267.4~400.8 and 169.0~400.8 mm in total precipitation. Therefore, the unique aspects of our study design permitted us to draw inferences about flow characteristic analysis with the contribution of base flow and/or direct runoff in the total runoff in a headwater stream. Furthermore, it will be useful for the long-term strategy of effective water management for integrated surface-groundwater in the forested headwater stream.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.12-27
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• 2023

In this study, among the construction-type parks in Gangdong-gu, targeting parks with high environmental and ecological value located on the urban green axis, a plan was prepared for the ecological renewal of urban parks, and a design that applied to them was proposed. The renewal target site was selected by analyzing the general condition of Gangdong-gu and urban parks, the land use and green area ratio, park green area, and the green axis of Gangdong-gu. Gangdong-gu has 54 parks, including 2 neighborhood parks and 52 children's parks. In the first stage of the current status review, 17 parks were extracted through locational value analysis, such as location and adjacency to the natural axis and green axis. In the second stage, eight parks were selected among the first-stage extraction parks based on the ratio of green spaces and open spaces within each park service area. In the third stage, two of the second stage extraction parks were selected based on whether the legal standard of the park area was met, and in the fourth stage, one of the third stage extraction parks was selected through an aging survey of the park. As for the urban ecological status of the renewal target site, the status of land use in the aspect of entropy reduction, the status of soil cover in the aspect of water circulation, and the status of planting structure in the aspect of biodiversity were investigated. As for the status of the three renewal sites, the green area was insufficient at 18.3-45.3%, and the facility area was 54.7%-81.7%, which was judged to have low urban temperature reduction effects. The impervious pavement area accounted for 34.5% to 48.9% of the park area, accounting for most of the facility area, and it was judged that the water circulation function was insufficient. The planting structure consisted of a single layer and a double layer structure, and although the tree layer was good, the lower vegetation was poor, and there was no planting site of edible plants or large hardwood trees, so the biodiversity was low. After the ecological renewal design of Seonrin Children's Park, Dangmal Children's Park, and Saemmul Children's Park, which were selected as the renewal targets in this study, the ecological area ratio of each park increased by 1.4 to 3 times than before the renewal. If the urban parks located on the urban green axis are examined from the perspective of the urban ecosystem and renewed ecologically, it is judged that the expected effect will be high in reducing entropy, improving water circulation, and laying the foundation for biodiversity in terms of the urban ecosystem.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.325-338
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• 2023

Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson) is one of the most important environmental indicator tree species for assessing climate change impacts on coniferous forests in the Korean Peninsula. However, due to the nature of alpine and subalpine regions, it is difficult to conduct regular field surveys of Korean fir, which is mainly distributed in regions with altitudes greater than 1,000 m. Therefore, this study analyzed the vegetation change trend of Korean fir using regularly observed remote sensing data. Specifically, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), land surface temperature (LST), and precipitation data from Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievalsfor GPM from September 2003 to 2020 for Hallasan and Jirisan were used to analyze vegetation changes and their association with environmental variables. We identified a decrease in NDVI in 2020 compared to 2003 for both sites. Based on the NDVI difference maps, areas for healthy vegetation and high mortality of Korean fir were selected. Long-term NDVI time-series analysis demonstrated that both Hallasan and Jirisan had a decrease in NDVI at the high mortality areas (Hallasan: -0.46, Jirisan: -0.43). Furthermore, when analyzing the long-term fluctuations of Korean fir vegetation through the Hodrick-Prescott filter-applied NDVI, LST, and precipitation, the NDVI difference between the Korean fir healthy vegetation and high mortality sitesincreased with the increasing LST and decreasing precipitation in Hallasan. Thissuggests that the increase in LST and the decrease in precipitation contribute to the decline of Korean fir in Hallasan. In contrast, Jirisan confirmed a long-term trend of declining NDVI in the areas of Korean fir mortality but did not find a significant correlation between the changes in NDVI and environmental variables (LST and precipitation). Further analyses of environmental factors, such as soil moisture, insolation, and wind that have been identified to be related to Korean fir habitats in previous studies should be conducted. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using satellite data for long-term monitoring of Korean fir ecosystems and investigating their changes in conjunction with environmental conditions. Thisstudy provided the potential forsatellite-based monitoring to improve our understanding of the ecology of Korean fir.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.21-36
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• 2023

As a solution to environmental issues, such as climate change response, the carbon neutrality strategy, urban heat islands, fine dust, and biodiversity enhancement, the value of urban green spaces and trees are becoming important, and various studies dealing with the effects of trees for environmental improvement are being conducted. This study comprehensively considers the preceding studies on planting tree species, planting structure, planting density, and planting base to propose a direction for the planting renewal of green areas in urban parks and applies the findings to a renewal plan to improve the urban environment through landscaping trees. A field survey was conducted on the planting status of Seoul Children's Grand Park, a large-scale neighborhood park in Seoul, and based on the survey data, a planting function evaluation was conducted, and areas needing improvement in planting function were identified. The planting function evaluation was carried out considering the park function setting, planting concept according to spatial function, and planting status. As a result of the study, the direction of planting renewal according to functional change was derived for each stage of planting function evaluation. Increasing the green area ratio is a priority in setting up park functions, but user convenience should also be considered. As a concept of planting, visual landscape planting involves planting species with beautiful tree shapes, high carbon absorption, and fine dust reduction effects. Ecological landscape planting should create a multi-layered planting site on a slope. Buffer planting should be created as multi-layered forests to improve carbon absorption and fine dust reduction effects. Green planting should consist of broad-leaved trees and herbaceous layers and aim for the natural planting of herbaceous species. For plant species, species with high urban environment improvement effects, local native species, and wild bird preferred species should be selected. As for the planting structure, landscape planting sites and green planting sites should be composed of trees, shrubs, and trees and herbaceous layers that emphasize ecology or require multi-layered buffer functions. A higher standard is applied based on the planting interval for planting density. Installing a rainwater recycling facility and using soil loam for the planting base improves performance. The results of this study are meaningful in that they can be applied to derive areas needing functional improvement by performing planting function evaluation when planning planting renewal of aging urban parks and can suggest renewal directions that reflect the paradigm of functional change of created green areas.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.281-302
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• 2023

Carbon is not only an essential element for life but also a key player in climate change. The radiocarbon (¹⁴C) analysis using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a powerful tool not only to understand the carbon cycle but also to track pollutants derived from fossil carbon, which have a distinct radiocarbon isotope ratio (Δ¹⁴C). Many studies have reported Δ¹⁴C of carbon compounds in streams, rivers, rain, snow, throughfall, fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), and wastewater treatment plant effluents in South Korea, which are reviewed in this manuscript. In summary, (1) stream and river carbon in South Korea are largely derived from the chemical weathering of soils and rocks, and organic compounds in plants and soils, strongly influenced by precipitation, wastewater treatment effluents, agricultural land use, soil water, and groundwater. (2) Unprecedentedly high Δ¹⁴C of precipitation during winter has been reported, which can directly and indirectly influence stream and river carbon. Although we cannot exclude the possibility of local contamination sources of high Δ¹⁴C, the results suggest that stream dissolved organic carbon could be older than previously thought, warranting future studies. (3) The ¹⁴C analysis has also been applied to quantify the sources of forest throughfall and PM_2.5, providing new insights. The ¹⁴C data on a variety of ecosystems will be valuable not only to track the pollutants derived from fossil carbon but also to improve our understanding of climate change and provide solutions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.89 no.5
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• pp.618-629
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• 2000

This study was carried out to investigate ecological niche of Quercus acuta communities in Bogildo-island from July to October, 1998. This island is occupied by a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. The study on community ecology of Q. acuta, mostly dominant species of subtropical forests, is very important for successful forest management. Sampling areas were selected in 16 quadrats, dominated by Q. acuta to examine the vegetation characteristics(plant identification, D.B.H.) and environmental elements (microtopography, altitude, slope degree, aspect, illumination and soil physicochemical properties). On the basis of data from field surveys, importance values were calculated for the dominance of Q. acuta and volume growth was analyzed by tree ring widths. The results obtained were as follows ; 1. The lists of vascular plants in the investigations were identified as 54 families, 91 genera, 113 species, 9 varieties, 1 formae. It appeared that 45 kinds were evergreen, 6 kinds(Camellia japonica, Ligustrum japonicum, Eurya japonica, Smilax china, Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium, Carex lanceolata) were commonly observed in all plots and 5 species(Cinnamomum japonicum, Ardisia japonica, Cymbidium goeringii, Dryopteris bissetiana, Viburnum erosum) were most highly observed in all plots(over 80%). 2. The dominating species per strata were, Quercus acuta, Castanopsis cuspidata sp. Quercus salicina, Pinus thunbergii, Prunus sargentii in tree layer, Camellia Japonica, Ligustrum japonicum, Quercus acuta, Eurya japonica, Castanopsis cuspidata sp. in subtree layer, Camellia japonica, Ligustrum japonicum, Smilax china, Cinnamomum japonicum, Viburnum erosum in shrub layer and Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium, Ardisia japonica, Carex lanceolata, Camellia japonica(seedlings), Quercus acuta(seedlings) in herb layer, all in descending orders. 3. Quercus acuta could be suggested as shade intolerant tree, considering the distribution in southern, western, nothern and eastern slopes in the descending orders. 4. Mean relative illumination in the forest is 0.89 % and it is relatively low in brightness. 5. Sustainment of Quercus acuta community couldn't be confirmed by judging from their reverse J curve in even-aged forest, as shown in D.B.H. distribution analysis. 6. The result of annual ring width analysis(mean ; 2.44 mm) showed three stages, such as a gentle increasing(1~12 year ; 2.04 mm), a relatively steep increasing(13~22 year ; 2.95 mm) and decreasing or stagnating(23 year after ; 2.41 mm).